Featured Images

The Slit Mills

Burrell Collection Photo Library

The Slit Mills on the Kelvin near Partick by William Simpson (1823-1899).

The buildings were located on the left bank of the River Kelvin opposite the ruins of Partick Castle and on the road to the Pointhouse ferry crossing. They were built around 1738 by the Smithfield Iron Co to slit and grind iron which was then used to make iron tools and goods at he company's Broomielaw factory. Around 1780 they were converted into grain mills and were rebuilt after they were damaged by fire in 1815. Simpson sketched the mills in 1843, showing that two of the buildings were connected by a wooden gallery which crossed above the road.

This watercolour is one of fifty-five painted by Simpson between 1893 and 1898. The series is based on sketches he completed fifty years earlier and which appeared as black and white illustrations in Views and Notices of Glasgow in Former Times, published in 1848 by Allan & Ferguson.

Reference: 892z/ 1889.2.z

Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Museums